Some conventional data processing environments comprise a plurality of user terminals connected to a central host data processing system. Such data processing environments are typically referred as central or host environments.
Increasing in popularity are distributed data processing environments in which user terminals are connected to plural server data processing systems.
In both of the above examples, the cost of systems management can be measured by the ratio of administrators (or operation support staff) to users. In a typical distributed environment, such as an environment providing a Lotus Notes service or similar distributed client-server database application, the ratio is relatively high: one Lotus Notes (Lotus and Lotus Notes are trade marks of Lotus Development Corporation) administrator may have difficulty controlling over 200 users of a fully functional Lotus Notes service. By comparison, in a typical host environment such as an OfficeVision (OfficeVision is a trade mark of International Business Machines Corporation), a single administrator may comfortably control thousands of users.
In a typical distributed environment employing a distributed database management system, a group of administrators collectively perform operational tasks associated with management of servers such as Groupware and E mail servers. Both E Mail and Groupware applications usually generate megabytes of information during normal daily operation. The information is typically stored in a log format. The logs are preferably processed with a view to identifying error conditions and thus to eliminating or at least reducing application server failures. However, the processing of such logs is a laborious activity. It would, therefore, be desirable to improve automation of server management in a distributed environment.